Russia urges Washington to return to the culture of diplomacy

Moscow calls on Washington to hark back to diplomatic culture, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said, addressing the Dialogue of Civilizations Public Forum.

"We call on the United States to remember diplomatic culture and start following the universal rules of conduct on the international stage, enshrined in the United Nations Charter," the senior Russian diplomat said.

"We, in turn, will continue consistent efforts to increase healthy trends in global affairs," Bogdanov stressed. "We are always open for honest dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation with everyone willing to cooperate while taking our interests into account and does not seek to make bilateral relations hostage to the short-term political situation," he added.

Middle East situation
The United States’ drive for world domination undermines the fundamental principles of settling conflicts in the Middle East, he said. He said there were no signs the list of world problems was getting shorter.

"The main reason is the stubborn intention of the United States and its western allies to preserve world domination in the international scene," Bogdanov said. "The vicious practice of intervention in the internal affairs, the use of force and wide use of unilateral economic restrictions - all this breeds mutual distrust, worsens the risk of spontaneous conflicts and undermines the fundamental principles of Middle East settlement.

"Of special concern is a number of US foreign policy steps, including the pullout from the Iranian nuclear deal," Bogdanov said. "It looks like Washington has unequivocally opted for the language of ultimatums even in relations with its closest partners."

At the same time, as Bogdanov said, "the select few" have failed to resolve the main international problems and provide an adequate response to such threats as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"On the contrary, the wish to dictate views to others has sparked an outbreak of violence and turned the Middle East into a stronghold of different terrorist groups," Bogdanov said.

Currently several major conflicts remain unsettled in the Middle East. Civil wars in Syria and Yemen are going on, terrorist groups stage regular terrorist attacks in Iraq, there has been a new spiral of tensions in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and the US pullout from the Iranian nuclear deal.